THE COMPANY at the centre of the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl has announced that it could be nine months before the Fukushima Daiichi plant is under complete control, tripling some previous forecasts.
The estimate came as US secretary of state Hillary Clinton touched down in Tokyo in a show of solidarity with Japan’s beleaguered government.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) says it will take three months to reduce radiation and restore the plant’s cooling systems to overheating uranium fuel. Another three to six months would be needed before the reactors stabilise and radiation was completely plugged, Tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said yesterday.
“We sincerely apologise for causing troubles,” said Mr Tsunehisa, who revealed he might quit amid withering criticism of the utility’s handling of the disaster. “We are doing our utmost to prevent the crisis from further worsening.”
Tepco is under enormous pressure to resolve the nuclear crisis triggered by last month’s huge earthquake and tsunami, which knocked out the plant’s cooling systems. At least two reactors have partially melted down and are leaking radiation, including caesium and plutonium, one of the planet’s most toxic substances.
The company has dumped thousands of tonnes of toxic water into the Pacific Ocean but faces a build-up of contaminated water on site after weeks of using fire hoses and helicopters to shower it with seawater. The fight to bring the plant safely to “cold shutdown” is being hampered by continued aftershocks and power cuts.
On Saturday, a spike in seawater levels of iodine-131 caused concerns the plant had sprung a new leak. The government said the levels were 6,500 times the legal limit, up from 1,100 the previous day. At its peak last month, radioactive iodine in the sea around the complex was recorded at 7.5 million times safe levels.
Mr Tsunehisa also said onsite workers were trying to prevent further hydrogen explosions in reactors one, two and three. Three of the buildings housing the plant’s six reactors were badly damaged by similar blasts in the week after the March 11th megaquake. The explosions showered the surrounding countryside with radioactivity, forcing thousands to evacuate.
Japan’s trade minister Banri Kaieda said yesterday it may be safe for some of the evacuees to return by the end of the year. “Of course, some people will be unable to return home, but we will keep everyone informed.”
Engineers at the Fukushima plant, about 250km northeast of Tokyo, face complex challenges. The head of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, Takashi Sawada, said last week that fuel rods in reactors one and three had melted, confirming fears the plant suffered a partial meltdown.
After stopping the radiation leaks, the engineers must dispose of the toxic water and decontaminate and dismantle the reactors. This is likely to take decades. The task is complicated by the presence of highly contaminated nuclear waste in ponds beside the reactors.
Mrs Clinton, on a one-day trip to the capital, praised the government’s handling of the crisis and said she was confident Japan would recover. “The constant efforts to respond to the situation at Fukushima have required intense analysis by Japanese, American and international experts, and we have been very supportive of what Japan is doing,” she said.
American nuclear engineers are reportedly also involved. Another 2,000 US troops have been dispatched to help survivors, mainly in the northeast.